On The Ride
by Little Dark Dynamite
Summary: Tristan, along with his sister and mom, go for a long car ride on a hot summer day. Number 2 in The Tristan Chronicles.


**Author's Note: Hi there! So I read the reviews for my other story "The Artist," and one person (I forgot your name, I'm sorry!) asked if I could make it a series. So this is the sequel to "The Artist" and number 2 in the series called The Tristan Chronicles. If you haven't read "The Artist," I recommend reading that first, because you might not understand this story if you don't read it. So enjoy!**

**On The Ride: Number 2 in The Tristan Chronicles/A Rules Fanfic**

Tristan glanced at the clock on top of his dresser in his room. 3:26. He sighed. Time to go for a ride. He grabbed his t-shirt and threw it on and walked downstairs.

It looked pretty normal. Trina, his sister, was sitting on the couch, hunched over her journal, wracking her brain for story ideas. He heard the faucet running and plates and glasses clinking, so he knew his mother was there. Just the person he wanted to see. He trotted to the kitchen and stood next to his mom.

"Hey Tin," Mom greeted. Tristan tugged her sleeve. "Do you want to go for a ride?"

"Eeee," Tristan replied.

"Okay," Mom agreed, placing the last plate in the dish rack. "I can tell you wanted to go for a ride. You tried to dress yourself again." Tristan grinned.

Trina looked up from her journal and turned to Tristan. "He did a good job. Only his shirt's inside out." Tristan twitched, confused, then looked down at his shirt. Only instead of staring at his Mighty Mouse logo, he found himself staring at the shirt's tag. "Whoops," he thought with a chuckle. Mom whipped off his shirt and put it back on Tristan. Tristan looked down and grinned again. Mighty Mouse.

"Rini, let's go for a ride," Mom said, grabbing her keys.

"Why? It's too hot," Trina protested.

"We'd still have the air conditioner in the car."

"So? It's July. And it's 107 degrees outside."

"What, you want to stay here?"

"At least it's cool. Besides, I have to think of an idea for my next story, and check my email, and-"

The lights flickered, then went out.

"Ooohhh," Tristan exclaimed, looking all around him.

"And there's a blackout," Mom said with a laugh. "Come on."

Trina sat there in disbelief, as Tristan went to the door and left the house, hopping into the car. Mom followed him out the door, but then poked her head through the door.

"Oh. And go get some water. In a glass, with ice," she told Trina. Then she left.

Trina stood up and sighed, throwing her arms up and looking up at the ceiling. "REALLY?"

After grabbing a glass of water, Trina came out and reluctantly hopped into the car. Soon, they were off. "Airplanes Part 2" by B.o.B., Hayley Williams, and Eminem was playing on the radio.

"Where should we go?" asked Trina.

"Don't know. Where do you want to go?" asked Mom.

Trina shrugged her shoulders. She didn't want to go in the first place. She already had plans. Think of an idea. Read. Watch a movie. Read. Take a nap, wake up, and read. Actually, she could have fallen asleep easily with the power out. She turned to Tristan. "Where do you go, Tin?"

Tristan twitched, considering the possibilities. They could take their usual route: 2nd Street to Texas Springs Road, to the highway and back home. Or they could go eat at a fast food place, like McDonald's. Or they could go to the Sundial Bridge and dip their feet in the Sacramento River like last summer. Then he remembered a place he really liked. He stared back at Trina. She could figure it out.

"Bridge?" she asked. Tristan shook his head.

"Igo?"

Tristan smiled. "Ahhhheeee."

Trina turned to Mom. "He wants to go to Igo."

"But I don't think we have enough gas," Mom protested.

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yeah, you do."

"You sure like to argue. Look."

Trina glanced at the meter and scoffed. "You have half a tank!"

"Not even!"

"Really? Look-"

"HOOOOOYYYYY!" Tristan yelled.

Trina and Mom stopped. "I think he just said 'hey,'" Mom said, incredulous. "Yeah, he did," Trina said. "He's been trying to say small words lately. I think he tried to say 'hey' because _he wants to go to Igo_."

Mom sighed. "All _right_." She turned onto Clear Creek Road. Tristan rocked back and forth excitedly as they drove out of Redding.

Igo was a very small town with only a couple thousand people and it was located near the veterans' cemetery. It was the type of town where everyone knew everybody, lots of farms and animals and people who were always friendly other people driving through the town. Tristan stared out the window, seeing a field that was acres long, with herds of cattle everywhere, a farm, small houses, and a pond. He turned and glanced out the other window, seeing the old store, the elementary school (there was no high school, so students needed to go to a high school in Redding), and more houses that looked like they belonged to Barbie dolls other than real people.

"Hey, Tin. There's the church," Trina said. Tristan turned to the window and looked out, smiling. He liked looking at the church the best. Sure, he had seen many churches in Redding: giant buildings, usually with a cross on them. But he liked the church in Igo because it didn't look like a church at all. It was a one-story house.

"I got an idea!" Mom said.

"You're gonna give me back all my Twilight soundtracks, because I've been dying to listen to them," Trina guessed.

"No," Mom said. "That wasn't it. And I'm not done with those CDs yet!" She reached for the Eclipse soundtrack and placed in the stereo. "Eclipse (All Yours)" by Metric came on. "I like this song too much. This one, and the one by that guy from Gnarls Barkley."

"'What Part of Forever" by Cee Lo Green," Trina informed her.

Tristan rolled his eyes. Twilight? Really?

"Anyway, what's your idea?" Trina inquired. Mom lowered her voice so only Trina could hear. Tristan's eyes swiveled to Mom and to Trina. He knew those looks on their faces. They were up to something. Finally, Mom and Trina stopped whispering and both of them looked at Tristan: Mom, through her mirror and Trina turned around, grinning. She turned back around and started texting on her cell phone. Tristan knew that grin. "Uh-oh," he thought.

"Tristan, we're gonna go somewhere new," Mom informed him. "I think you'll like it, Trina's been there before and so has Dad." "But you have seen this place before," Trina added.

Tristan rocked back and forth in his seat. He was excited, but also confused. A place he had seen before, but haven't been to? Another thought hit him. He had forgotten that his dad was coming home from a business trip. He sat in his seat, his head against the headrest, wondering.

Within minutes, they were out of Igo and back in Redding. Tristan was still staring out the window, pondering. Trees, even more houses, more trees, the creek...

The creek? Was it the creek?

He noticed that their car was pulling into a parking lot, which was for people that wanted to go on the Clear Creek Trail, or go swimming in the creek. So it was the creek.

Mom pulled into a spot and parked the car. "All right. We're here!" she exclaimed. She and Trina hopped out of the car. Trina opened Tristan's door, because there was a special lock on it that prevented Tristan from opening the door and escaping while the car was moving. "Put your slippers on, Tin," she told Tristan. Tristan reached for his slippers at the bottom of his feet and put them on. He looked up and noticed that the car parked next to them looked familiar. He could have sworn it was his dad's car...

"Look who's here, Tin," Trina said.

Tristan climbed out of the car and looked up and saw a man. He squealed in delight. His signature goofy grin was written across his face.

"Hey Tin!" the man greeted. It was his dad.

Tristan trotted over to his dad and started jumping up and down. His dad started jumping up and down, too, making Trina and Mom laugh.

"So why did you tell me to come here?" Dad asked Trina after things calmed down.

"We had a blackout and we needed something to do until the power comes back on," Trina replied.

"We had a blackout?" asked Dad. "How hot is it, exactly?"

"107 degrees. And it might get hotter," Mom answered. Dad groaned. "But I have some snacks in the back of my car that I bought at the store, so I thought we could spend the day at the creek until the power comes back," Mom continued. "And we could dip our feet like last summer," Trina added. "All right," Dad agreed. "Just as long as Tristan keeps his pants on."

Trina scowled. "He will," Mom said, slightly offended. "I don't let him run around naked!" Tristan just giggled.

They spent the rest of the day at the creek and left at sunset. But little did they realize is that the power went back on ten minutes after Mom, Trina, and Tristan had left.

**The End**

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading and please review! Number 3 in the Tristan Chronicles: Coming SOON!**


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